Knives at Hogwarts
by ylene
Summary: Two completely different witchards (wizard and witch) cross paths a Hogwarts, one naive young boy, a potion nerd., overthrown in shadow by his older brothers and trying to battle out. Another wild, rough, girl, whose obsession with magical knives, helped her stay alive, what happened in the past to make her so revengefull?
1. Chapter 1

It was a late saturday afternoon. The grounds around Hogwarts were misty and clammy as always, and besides an occasional echo from the nearby sea hitting towards the cliffs, everything was calm and silent. Almost at least.

Simeon was sitting by a bench with his nose buried in an old book. This was how the other students knew him and he had never seen much reason to change that. He was wearing his regular bluish grey jumper on top of a white shirt and wore dark trousers. His brown bristle hair was gently caressed by the wind, as his blue eyes behind squared glasses went down the old pages in a fast pace. A continuous thud interrupted his reading. He normally was a very focused reader who could read through the worst of noise from other students. Yet this sound bugged him, in the great contrast to everything else that was silent. With slight annoyance he looked up from the book and turned around towards the sound. He had chosen this exact spot to study, as he knew it was rarely visited by the other students. Yet he was not alone this day. Not far from where he sat a girl about his age were standing. Continuously and with an astonishing aim she was throwing knives at an old tree. Simeon was indeed impressed, as such skilled required a lot of practise, in which he had done very little. It peaked his interest and quickly taking note of how far he had read in his book, he closed in and wrapped his stuff up and put it in his shoulder bag. His bag had a big blue and yellow embroidery on it; "Branson" it said with a crown above it. He was of a proud pure- blood family, who had owned the creature trading business "The Branson Equines" for generations. The Bransons were a family of tradition, and like Simeon's brothers before him, there had been no questions asked that he was to join Hogwarts - despite the fact that he had never felt very welcome here. His brothers had taken good care of him through the years though, which had made him feel less lonely. But now as both Peter and Harry had graduated and moved on to the more desireable college of Czocha, Simeon was left behind with the few friends he had made. He could indeed use some more, and this young girl practising her talents seemed rather lonely herself. Preparing himself, Simeon got up and walked towards her.

Reagan didn't notice him at first, her face was fierce and concentrating on the throws, her forehead frowned with concentration, then, as she hears a sound of branches breaking she spins around quickly, facing the treat. Reagan is wearing brown-like colours of army trousers and a dark green army-coloured shirt with hood.  
She pulls the hood down, and looks at Simeon with wild eyes, she looks alert and immediately scans for more danger around them, thinking there might be more people lurking in the forest, seeing none, she continues taking him in with her eyes. Then after a long pause an unexpected smile erupts from her face  
"you startled me" she says in a calm soft voice, quite in contrast of her previous wild self "there aren't many people around here normally"

"Oh," Simeon says with a hesitant smile, "um, I'm so sorry, didn't mean to". Simeon was far from the most agile person around here. To actually be able to startle someone, felt like a rather big compliment. An awkward silent emerged between them. Simeon felt the girls stare at him, as if she was trying to figure out what exactly he wanted and shy he had interrupted her. "But um, hi, Simeon Branson," he said as he didn't knew what else to say. He gave her his hand and tried to act like he hadn't startled her. "Reagan" she replies confidently, before looking over his shoulder into the forest "always keep an eye on that dark spot there" she replies mysteriously "you never know what comes out of it" there was indeed a black spot clearly visible behind the trees, but it was far away, normal people wouldn't get overly paranoid by it. She turns her side to him, continuing to throw her knives at the same spot in the tree "so, let's not linger, what do you want?" she asks straightforwardly, Reagan isn't the kind of person to talk around things subtle and always assumes people want something from her, whether the case or not. "Good to meet you," Simeon said politely, trying his best not to come forward as intrusive, "I was just admiring your skills with those knives of yours - how long have you been practising that?" A knife hits the old tree with a bit of extra strength, and gives out a loud thud. The girl walks by Simeon, towards the tree to collect her knives again. The bark is getting chopped up and soft, making her knives go deeper into the old trunk. "I guess it's a nice day for practising outdoor activities, innit?" the guy behind her continues.  
"Why, yes it is" she replies shortly, being put off by his politeness, it gives her the feeling he wants her to stay away from him. "been doing this since I was 11". Deciding to put him to the test, she sneaks behind his back after retrieving her knives, then she softly puts the edge of the blade against his neck, not meaning to harm him, but simply trying to prove a point. "You dont pay much attention" she says matter of factly, startling him with her sudden voice and the feeling of the blade against his skin. Pulling him by the elbow, she quickly spins him around, so that they are now looking at each other, face to face. She holds her hands up next to her face, trying to show she isn't trying to threaten him. He looks rather shocked of this sudden approach. "You need help" she states, before handing him a knife, "why don't you give it a try?" He looks at her with a mix of surprise and distrust in his eyes. "Me?" he asks, "oh no, er… I'm no good at stuff like that." He tries to pull back. This isn't going how he planned - it doesn't even fail the way he expected it could, this is just weird and a bit creepy. This is what you get for approaching a girl throwing knives, he reckons.  
"Come on!" she says, amused by the way he holds back, "I was just trying to prove a point, I wouldn't _actually_ have hurt you" she shrugged her shoulders, well if he wanted to get his butt kicked, sure thing his choice. "Won't you give it _one_ try at least?" she half begged him in a whiney voice, getting people into violence was one of the favourite past-time activities. As he looks at her with a worried look in his eyes, she slips the knife into his hand. It's heavy but nicely balanced between the blade and she shaft. This whole scene starts to feel rather ridiculous to him, and he let's out an assumed laugh. "Okay," he says hesitantly, "but I won't be able to hit anything, y'know." He looks at this strange girl, he now regrets having approached in the first place. Hogwarts is a place of great skills in traditional martial arts and weapons combat. This will be embarrassing - luckily no one else is around. Taking a deep breath, he gets ready to throw the knife and the girl takes a step back. Hoping he won't cut himself, he aims and throws it. Cutting through the air in an unsteady arc towards the ground, the knife hits nothing, but the soft soil, which makes it bounce up and roll around, until it reaches a full stop. "Well at least you killed some ants" she says dryly. She lays down in the grass, staring at the hot blue sky. "How are you still alive in Hogwarts? She asks generally surprised at his lack of fighting skills, she had grown up learning fighting was one of the only ways. Simeon is as expected rather embarrassed by now and feel a small blush rushing to his cheek. He doesn't know what to answer and scratches his neck in stead. "I, um…" he starts as he slowly goes to retreat the knife. This plan of socialising failed miserably. Now all Simeon wanted was to give Reagan back her knife, and then be gone. "I dunno," he said beaten and handed her the knife. With easy grace she takes it, spins it around in her hand and puts it in her belt, almost without even looking at it. "So…" Simeon said, looking around for a reason to leave, "I better go".

Reagan too felt like she failed at trying to keep her calm demeanor around him, she had seriously tried not to freak him out that is. "Allright then," there is no hint of the inner frustration in her voice, she jumps up gracefully "if you ever change your mind about me helping, just ask" she says, quite down to business again. Before taking out her wand and pointing it at the knives, making 10 at a time fly towards the same poor tree. They all hit the beaten bark and formed a perfect circle. Simeon once again felt astonished. Neither throwing knives (or anything in that matter) or casting spells had ever been his strong side. He had joined Hogwarts in the rather young age of 9 years old, where his skills in alchemy had been the outbreak of his magic. Brewing potions had always been in his interest, and since this was pretty much the only thing he did well, it still was the subject that consumed most of his time. "Sure," Simeon said with a rather happy polite tone in his voice, "I'll see you later then - unless you sneak up on me from behind that is." He laughed another assumed laugh, hoping Reagan would find his poor joke funny. She didn't. She just looked at him with a raised eyebrow, making him sure that he knew she could actually do that. Still not having moved, Simeon finally got to say his final goodbye, turned around and left Reagan behind. " _Wow, that went well!"_ he thought to himself in a sarcastically tone, as he swore he felt her stare in his neck.


	2. Chapter 2

With great haste Reagan was searching through her backpack. She felt her heart beat ever faster, as she still couldn't find it. Where was it? She had just had it! She swore to herself, making some of the other students passing her, look at her with a strange stare. Little did she care. She had been on her way to an inside class for once, when suddenly she had felt its' absence. At first she thought it was probably just her being paranoid, but then decided to check anyway. She swore again. It was gone. Someone had to had taken it, but who? Only a few could know about it, if any and she hadn't let anyone close to her things unattended except for… of course. The thought of yesterday's meeting with that Branson guy, struck her. A guy that clumsy couldn't truly survive the way of Hogwarts, and even though she had only let her guard down for a brief moment lying in the grass, he must have tricked her and stolen it right in front of her nose. Violently she wrapped up her bag and threw it onto her shoulder. Where could he be? She had seen him a few times before in the years she had attended Hogwarts, but never really noticed him. Her best guess was around the library, as the nerdy looking students often stayed there. Realising she would miss class, she turned around and went for the library with a determined expression on her face - this was more important.

Sitting deep in thought, Simeon munched slowly on his apple. He was having a pre-lunch snack and was struggling with some homework which was due later today. For once he wasn't sitting in the library like he normally would if he wasn't in the basement or outside, but to his misfortune the way to the library went straight by the dining hall which was where he was. And despite the fact that he was sitting with the back to the doorway, sitting by himself with his bag with the big "Branson" embroidery, he was all too easy to spot for the angry Reagan passing by.

As soon as Reagan saw him her anger took over, consuming her entire thoughts. It was like she, the Reagan that felt was there no more. Not feeling anything but anger was an all too familiar feeling, it helped her drive the voice in her head that felt for other.

She stalked to his direction, quickly, that fierce gaze on her face again.

she strode through the dining hall, making some students looking up, towards him, while thinking.

 _He took it, of course he did, a person like that has to be sneaky to survive at Hogwarts, this was how he did it! Which knives shall I use?_ Her hand travelled to her belt, where some of them were hidden, she only had her favourites there, but didn't feel like getting it dirty just yet, but who knows?

 _I tried to be nice for godsake, and this is what I get? of course, I should have known._

"EJJ BARSTED" she screamed loudly at the kid, not having bothered to remember him by his proper name. She wanted to make a talk first but couldn't, the firm was just Too loud, she had to let the anger out.

As he stood up she jammed her elbow onto his collar bones, half slamming his back to the wall beside the doorway behind him. "Where is it? And DON'T DENY YOU DIDN'T TAKE IT"

"Woah, wait, wah?" Simeon stammered surprised, "Re-, Reagan?" He definitely hadn't been prepared for this sudden attack, nor seeing her again so close. Without knowing what to do, he just looked at her with big eyes while his brain seemed to work in slowmotion. If eyes could kill, Simeon would surely have been dead by now. Reagan's eyes were full of lightning and the shade of kindness she had had yesterday, was all gone. "SO, WHERE IS IT?" she asked again just as loudly. "I, I don't know what you're talking about," Simeon replied trying to be silent and avoid too much attention, "where is what?" "Don't pretend to be stupid!" Reagan bit putting her face closer to his in a threatening way. By now a bunch of the other students in the dinning room had gotten up and everyone else had turned their heads, to see what was going on. Seeing someone like Reagan in a dramatic scene like this, was far from a new thing at Hogwarts, but Simeon, the kid that always had his head kept down and who had lived in the shadow of his brothers until recently, surely was of new interest. Desperately trying to sneak his way out of Reagan's grip, Simeon quickly came into better thoughts as he saw her reach for her knives - he already knew of her skills from afar, up close couldn't be a good thing. Trying to look serious, Simeon made a bluff. "Reagan, back off," he said with an almost calm voice and tried to stand straight.

Reagan was slightly surprised with the calmness of his voice, normally they either stammered things or said nothing at all. From the corners of her eyes she suddenly saw a half circle of people standing around them, she hadn't noticed them before, Reagan knew that she could probably get away with treating him, but actually using her knives? That would be hard even in a place like Hogwarts, at the moment though? She didn't give a fuck.  
Getting out a knife she pressed it against his cheek, hard enough to split open the outer part of his skin, not deep at all, but the message was clear: she would hurt him if it came down to it.

By that his bluff was busted. Panic rushed through him, as he felt the blood slowly start to pour down his cheek. "Aaaaaah, okay, okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he stammered and began to feel small. Even though Reagan was about his age and height, and well, was a girl, she was still surprisingly strong, and had a great technique at controlling someone, holding up against the wall. Reagan didn't move a muscle and nor dared Simeon, as she was still holding a knife against his now bleeding face. Around them people were silently mumbling to each other, but didn't interact just yet, as this was still more entertaining than dangerous. "Where," she demanded to know, now speaking with a more silent but still as intense voice. Simeon looked at her with a bewildered expression. "I, I, I don't know," he answered with a thin voice, "where is what? Please, I really don't know... please, let me go."

"What DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING" a loud voice bellowed out beside them, the students that previously gathered around them started moving, though reagan heard the commotion, she didn't move, she didn't say anything but kept standing quite still.

"Let him go Kendrus" said the deep bellowing voice behind them, Reagan eyed him, and recognized him as the physical-defense teacher.

She respected him, but also knew he was probably the best person of authority to bust them, he had come across her fighting many times before.  
So she let Simeon go, wiping the bloody knife on her sleeve before putting it back in her belt.

"What did you do" he asked Simeon, demanding an answer. The man looked fierce, but wasn't extremely tall, he had black wavy hair jumping several directions and looked about 30-ish. Simeon looked at him with a still terrified expression. As soon as Reagan had let him go, he had stepped back and quickly put a hand over the small cut she had given him. Now he stood rather shocked and looked at the professor with awe. The professor didn't directly dislike Simeon, but Simeon didn't do very well in his classes and was nothing like what his brothers had been. This whole scene was a good prove of it. "I don't know, sir," he answered quickly, feeling the stare from Reagan and the others students. He didn't look at any of them. Right now he was the center of attention along with Reagan, a place he normally would do anything to avoid, and he still wasn't quite sure why she had attacked him.

"You should have practiced more" he scolded to Simeon in a quete harsh voice. "I reckon a little beating did you good".

He turned to Reagan, "nice grip, but concentrate on its feet, if you target would have been a bit more of a prominent fighter" he glared at Simeon "you would be down on your back".

Reagan didn't care much for his compliments and critiques right now, but quickly just nodded and couldn't hide a small smirk on her face. Simeon couldn't believe his ears. He had been violently attacked by this maniac girl for no apparent reason, and now he was the one who got scolded? Still holding a hand at his cheek, Simeon was just staring at the physical-defense professor in disbelieve. "What are you looking at, Branson?" the professor asked in a tough tone, when he noticed Simeon's stare, "go get yourself cleaned up!" Waking up, Simeon quickly moved passed Reagan and tried his best to collect his things into his bag, as fast as possible with one hand. From the small crowd around him, he could hear all the whispers and an occasional giggle. He was used to people talking about him and not with him, but rarely had it been in this degree. Behind him Reagan scowled at him. She had won the fight, but not the war. That little prick still had her stone, and now he was getting away with it, without even raising suspicion around himself. She wasn't sure whether he had actually just tricked her again, or not. No matter what, she was still missing her precious stone. Having finally put his things together, Simeon started walking with a great pace towards the exit of the dining hall. Yet he didn't reach far. "Stop," the professor said, bringing Simeon to a hold. He had been thinking while the young Branson had packed his stuff. A guy who couldn't fight was indeed a disgrace to Hogwarts. He knew all too well how Simeon's older brothers had had his back while they attended, but now they were gone and the professor saw a sudden possibility to get the last Branson into a fighting shape. "Branson, Kendrus come here for a moment," he said waving the two of them closer to him, "I have an assignment for you." Simeon looked at Reagan with a confused and distressed look in his eyes. This couldn't be good. Would this humiliation never end? Yet he did what he was told and slowly returned to the center of attention, the place in the world he'd least be by now. "I just had a brilliant idea," the professor said smugly and looked at Reagan, "Kendrus, you are to teach young Mr. Branson here how to fight." Neither Reagan nor Simeon could believe their ears, and all around them the whispering and giggling grew in volume. "I want you to toughen him up, and have him ready by the end of this month," the professor added, feeling rather pleased by his genius. By now Simeon couldn't hold it back any longer. "But professor!" he exclaimed, "that is not fair - we weren't fighting, I was ruthlessly attacked with no warning what so-" "Silent!" the professor interrupted him with a sharp voice, "unless you want to challenge Kendrus to a physical fight now, you will do like I say, got it?" Simeon opened his mouth to say something, but change his mind for the better and just nodded instead, looking at the floor. "Good," the professor said and then started to leave, "maybe she can help you become more like your brothers." The professor didn't even look back at Simeon as he said the last part, but said it nice and loudly so that no one would miss it. Looking after the professor, Simeon wished he could disappear right away. Rarely had he been humiliated like this, and even though the crowd of students were slowly dissolving, he could hear them talk about him. "What a loser, I bet he's a squib too!" he heard a girl giggle to her friend. He felt the sting. Behind him Reagan still stood with clenched fists and a very mispleased expression on her face. She hated every aspect of the idea that she had to teach this poor excuse for a man or spend more time with the person she loathed.

~ "Tomorrow, 9 o'clock in the evening, the spot where we first met" Reagan said to him while striding away, thinking that putting her together with someone she detests was a bad choice from the teacher, they will be lucky they can still scrape him off the ground tomorrow evening, she thought.

They both walked separate directions, Simeon cleaned himself up and reagan continued looking for the stone, in her dorm, thinking about it;


	3. Chapter 3

She knew what she had to do, storming towards the dorms of the students in the years below her. The dorms excited of old wooden planks, making it too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

Climbing through the entrance of the boys huts she looked around enjoying the effect that her appearance made, most guys, from around 13 to 16 years old looked at her? Most scared.

Happy her reputation had followed her to the younger dorms, she stormed on to the notice board in the main hall where the names were connected to the number of the dorm.

"Branson" she murmured while tracing her finger down the list.

"number 18" she read and so she stormed off trying to find the room.

As soon as she opened the wooden door she realised she was in the right room. Far off from the door, to the right, there was a bed that could only be Simeon's. Books and notes were everywhere in nicely put piles, and on his bedside table a cauldron were bubbling silently on it's own, letting a small misty cloud pour over it's sides. Reagan quickly approached and confirmed by the name on the end of the bed headboard, that she was in the right place.

"S. R. Branson," she read silently, with a slight mischief in her voice. If he didn't want to admit his crime against her, nor give her back her stone, nor even help her with a potion, she would either have to find the stone herself or find something she could blackmail him with, to have him do as she pleased. Dropping her bag, she quickly sat on the nicely made bed and started to go through some of his papers. She went through dusins of handwritten notes on everything from the use of spider plants to the side effects of mackled malaclaw bites, but little did any of this help her. Then she got up and went through a small closet, which held all of Simeon's robes, but little did it reveal either. Reagan was losing her patience and started to make a mess out of everything around her. Nothing. No sign of the stone, nothing on Simeon, nothing but clothes, stupid notes and school related thoughts. She kicked an old book with the title "The Alchemists Handbook - By Frater Albertus", which bounced off and ended up underneath the bed. A silent thud let out that it hit something down there. Curiously Reagan quickly dropped and looked into the dark under the bed. She smirked. " _Of course,"_ she thought to herself, and then pulled out an old fashioned brown suitcase which had been hidden underneath. Quickly she put it on the bed and clicked up the two locks, using nothing but a simple unlocking spell. The suitcase revealed exactly what she was looking for. Diaries, letters, pictures and all kinds of small things that wasn't school related lied in front of her. Greedily she started to go through it. Skimming the letters, they proved to be rather dull. There was mostly letters from Simeon's parents and brothers, catching up on how he was doing in school. They seemed rather curious in his life, leaving little details unanswered. There was a few letters from what appeared to be childhood friends as well, but these were even more boring, only talking about good old times and what was happening now. Reagan wrinkled her nose. She had never had true friends as a child and neither did she have now - they couldn't be trusted anyway, so why bother? Digging deeper into the suitcase, something suddenly caught Reagan's eye and made her stop. A picture. It seemed only a couple of years old when looking at the state of the paper, but she reckoned it had to be older than that. A family. Three young boys, one about 5-6 years younger than the others, holding around each other's shoulders. Grinning, as they were pushing each other back and forth, trying to make the others fall out of the picture. A father. With a serious yet kind face, he was obviously the head of the family. Protecting it and caring for it was the most important aspect of his life, and on his lips a small smile appeared as his boys were sillily messing around. Reagan suddenly felt her heart ache. A mother... With her head resting on the man's shoulder, she had a hand on the youngest boy's shoulder preventing him to fall over now and then. She had nothing but love in her deep blue eyes, which looked from her sons to the camera behind fine semi-circled glasses. It wasn't until now, Reagan realised the youngest boy also wore glasses. This was Simeon. He couldn't be more than 8 years old and the two older boys were sure to be his brothers Harry and Peter, which Reagan had only known little off, while they attended Hogwarts. Reagan sat down on the soft bed, still with the picture in her hand. They all seemed so happy. So united and so… loved.


	4. Chapter 4

She could see Simeon standing in the middle of the field, anxiously waiting for Reagan to come. Reagan walked to the middle of the field as well, no sign of armour accompanied her, there was obviously be more of a physical training planned.

She took out her wand, pointing it at Simeon and said "revileo" while thinking of the stone, normally this would cause the hidden stone to fly over to her, but nothing happened.

"You probably hid it somewhere didn't you?" she hissed venomously to him. As Simeon hadn't noticed Reagan just yet, the sound of her strict voice made him jump as he turned around. He had only a thin line left on his chin where she had cut him the way before, it was obvious that he had used some kind of healing potion. "Reagan, good you're here," he said nervously, "hid what?"

Reagan scolded at his words, "you are such a liar" she hissed, not speaking about stone but about him saying good she is there, he obviously- like her -, prefered to be anywhere else.

Letting out a deep sigh, she folded her hand in a fist, upon the place where the necklace normally hung. "I am looking for a stone, and as you might have noticed, I believe you have it. I had it before I went training, then, just before I came to find you, I noticed it was gone, it's not a normal one... it's important" she ended. Simeon sighed, relieved he finally found out what this had all been about. "And you thought, I took it?" he asked hesitantly. "No," Reagan replied, and Simeon shot her a surprised look, before she went on, "I STILL think you took it". Simeon raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to take something like that from you?" he asked, "I'm not into geology at all." Reagan didn't answer, but only scowled at him. She knew he was lying. Asking seemingly logical questions to make her accusations appear illogical - how stupid did he think she was? "We'll see about that," she hissed in a low voice, starting to think what spell one could cast to make someone speak the truth and the truth only, "let's being." With that she quickly pulled her knee up, put her foot right at Simeon's chest and kicked him to the ground. She didn't kick him to hurt him (that much) but only to make him fall backwards and onto his butt - and unprepared at he was, this was just what Simeon did. He landed with a silent thud and looked up at her with surprise, as he had not seen the kick coming. "Lesson one," Reagan said dryly, before Simeon could say a word, "always stand on the balls of your feet to avoid falling onto your ass when pushed or kicked." Without further notice, she then dropped her bag to the ground, clenched her fists and put her hands up. "Let's fight," she said, looking down at Simeon, who was already beginning to feel sweaty.

With a big "Oof!" Simeon landed once again on the ground, this time on his stomach. Faster than a cat over an injured mouse, Reagan was over him and sat on his back. "Lesson number 32, don't get on the ground," she said complacent and then sneaked an arm around his throat, "lesson number 33, when on the ground, don't expose your throat." Even though he was still able to breath, Simeon felt the panic as Reagan put pressure on his throat. He took hold of whatever of her arm he could reach and tried pulling, but little did it help. Reagan couldn't help smirking. Even though she would rather have been without this assignment of teaching this dim wit, she had to admit that this was pretty fun, and for once she wouldn't get into trouble if one of the professors caught her in the act. Simeon still struggled to get her arm of his throat. She rolled her eyes. Lying almost flat on his back, she then rolled them both around so that now she was on her back, but was still in complete control. Using her legs to straighten him out and bending his neck and back backwards, she tightened and locked her grip. "Lesson 34, when chocked with an armbar, DON'T go for the elbow, go for the hands!" Feeling him struggle, still unable to do anything at all, she then finally let him go and used a small kick to push him away. Simeon stumbled forward onto all fours and inhaled as if he had been on the edge of being strangled. He quickly sat down and put a hand on his throat. " _Pussy,"_ Reagan thought to himself, she hadn't even strangled him that hard. Yet she did enjoy the state of him. He had been smart enough to remove his glasses, after he had had the first punch in the face (only a small punch of course!), which made him squint his eyes a bit, to try and see properly. His once white shirt was now all wrinkled and grass stained, and his hair looked like it had been through a small hurricane. "Class dismissed. Tomorrow, same place, same time," Reagan said and went to grab her bag, when she suddenly thought of her missing stone again. "Tomorrow?" Simeon said still out of breath and started to get onto his feet, "I can't, I've got class." "Then skip it," Reagan said carelessly. As if it was her problem, he had class. Still hoping to find her precious stone, she started to go through her bag once more, but it was still nowhere to be found. Catching up to her, already feeling sore, Simeon noticed her still more eager and frustrated search. "I can't skip class," he said and then looked at her, "what does it do?" "What does what do?" Reagan said without looking up, still going through her belongings. "The stone?" he added. Now Reagan looked up.

"Nothing" reagan replied angrily, "It does fucking nothing" she didn't seem angry at Simeon for asking the question, but more at herself, to be so upset over a stone that did nothing but holding memories. "So…" Simeon asked hesitantly, rubbing a soon to be blue mark on his arm, "what do you need it for?" The need Reagan had for this stone, which apparently did nothing was starting to peak his interest - there really had to be something special about it, since its' absence bothered her so much. "You wouldn't understand," she said curtly and

wished he hadn't caught her searching for it. "Try me," he continued, while groping to find his glasses in the pocket of his jacket. She gave up, and decided to tell him. "It holds memories, of, other times" she knew she would sound weak, hopefully even, pathetic. "What times?" Simeon asked, getting more and more curious about this side of Reagan he definitely hadn't noticed before - could it even be a soft side?

"Better times with different people, places and another me" she sighed, thinking about the fact there was none of the violence present within her back then, looking away from him, she bit a fingernail off and spit it on the ground, face frowning, then looking back at Simeon, for once not a frown on her face. Even though she had been yelling at him and trying to punch stuff into his stupid little head for about an hour, it seemed just now that he actually paid genuine attention. "What happened?" he asked silently.

"I left my mom" she was about to tell him the story of when she was 12 and left home, thinking it would be better for both of them, about how much she regretted it when finding out it was all for nothing, of feeling so so angry all the time, and not having been able to let it go. Then she realised who she was talking to, the thief, who would probably turn any of this information against her and she decided to keep it all in, wrapped up, deep.

"That isn't any of your business" she snapped. Simeon immediately backed off, recognising the Reagan he knew once again. "Sorry," he said, but then couldn't help himself, "I just thought you might wanted to talk about it, I mean, that must have been rough… but why did you leave her?"

She swirled around, looking around the Simeon with wild eyes, but a nevertheless pained pression carved on her face.

"SHUT UP OKAY?! JUST SHUT UP" Reagan her eyes got wet at the corners, but she didn't take her knives out, she just growled at him one last time, before sprinting off into the darkness of the forest.

After reagan came to the edge of the forest, which had taken quite some time to reach, she sat down, there it was again, she felt to much, opening her bag she took out a clear coloured potion, and drank it generously, as soon as it touched her lips the effects kicked in, she should have taken it some more today, if she had, this wouldn't have happened.  
She felt the familiar sensation, first dizzy and weak, then nothing at all, just witness, no anger, no sadness, no feeling at all was left in her, she was a blank slate, without empathy, moments after taking the potion are the most dangerous once, if she would encounter anyone at this first stage of the potion they would be dead meat.  
She thought of Simeon, of how he reacted to her, jeez, she wondered how someone like him could still be empathic with someone like her, she fucking hurt people for some daily pleasure, she pitied him, he could use some of the potion as well, she snickered, before taking her knife out and looking for some fresh meat to cut up, 1rst years were sometimes still stupid enough to try and explore the forest at night, she sniggered again and the prospect, expression was evil, mean, and glaring, knife clutched in her hand with the face of a beast.

The previous feeling were gone, not present in any way at all, it would all be worth it, she thought when she saw what she hoped for the most, a student, walking around the forest, she will go tell her off Reagan thought, a smile appearing on her face while striding towards the rulebreaker.

Simeon was sitting by himself, deep in thought. In front of him one of his smaller cauldrons were happily bubbling away. He was doing an easy healing potion, to take care of some of the small scratches and sore bruises he got from yesterday's training with Reagan. He hadn't met her this morning, as he had had class and couldn't help wonder if she had been waiting for him. The thought of a mad Reagan who had been bailed on, was not something Simeon liked to think about. Not paying a whole lot of attention, he added some ginger root to the potion, which made a spicy sweet smell spread around it. Simeon would rather not admit it, but he felt a bit worried about the way Reagan had run off the day before. What she had told him, seemed to have meant a lot to her - of course it did. Simeon loved his family, his brothers and his parents. They didn't always agree upon things and they had their issues of course, but Simeon wouldn't be without them, not for anything. The thought of leaving one's mother and then as a child, was devastating. He pitied her, but quickly decided not to let her know that. Slowly he went on with the potion, stirring 5 times this way and then that, doing what he had done so many times before. Suddenly he felt two strong hands on his shoulders, which made him jump and tore him out of his thoughts. "Bransooon," an all too well known voice grinned in his ear with a heavy Scottish accent. Turning around Simeon already knew who he was about to face. Daniel Ainsley. A few years older than him, who had often been after him while his brothers were also attending Hogwarts - but now they weren't there to make him scram. "Heard you got beat up by a girl several times now, did baby get a boo boo?" he said and sat down on the long bench besides Simeon, making a crybaby face. Beside him Daniel's usual body guard looking friend stood clucking, with a deep dumb voice. "Leave me alone, Ainsley," Simeon said tiredly and returned to his potion making. He normally didn't bother about what Ainsley said, he was nothing but another spoiled pure- blood brat, who lived only to make other people feel miserable. "Or you do what? Cry on me? Tell mommy and dada?" he teased putting his ugly freckled face close to Simeon's. Ainsley's bodyguard was losing it, laughing out loud, making him appear even dumber than normally. Simeon sighed and did what he did best, ignored the annoying fly buzzing around his head. Ainsley noticed that, and he didn't like being ignored. As a single child he had never been ignored anywhere and he wouldn't be so now either. "Simeoon, Simeeooon," he continued while pushing Simeon back and forth as he started to sing, "slimey squibby Simeon, crying like a girl! Better catch your stuff real quick, before it starts to swirl!" With that Ainsley jumped up from the bench, waved his wand and then sped off with his bodyguard following him like a small dog. At the very moment Ainsley had waved his wand, Simeon's cauldron, papers and ingredients lying on the table, whirled up in the air and went all over the place. Trying to avoid the burning potion which was spilling out of the flying cauldron, Simeon leaped backwards, falling over the bench, which he then took down with him with a big crash as he hit the stone floor. Feeling lucky that he had missed the boiling ginger smelling liquid, Simeon looked up with a sigh as his papers were slowly returning, dancing down towards him, moving back and forth. His ingredients were also to be found everywhere by now, luckily there hadn't been any expensive ones amongst it. Just then as Simeon sat on the floor, the professor of megalithics walked by. A small chubby woman with a voice like a circular saw, and small piggy eyes behind thick glasses. She stopped, looked at Simeon, then at all the mess around him and then back at him. "Clear this mess up immediately!" she shrieked like a banshee, shocked to see such a messiness in a common room. "Yes ma'am," Simeon quickly replied and got up, "sorry, professor." Simeon jumped on his feet and quickly brushed the dried thyme off his shirt. In the doorway the chubby, now red cheeked professor uttered an angry almost insulted sound and then went on to take care of her daily teaching. Simeon heard her mumble something about ungrateful students, but little did he care at the moment. His body was sore and Ainsley had just wasted the last of Simeon's ingredients, so that now he couldn't make another healing potion. "Great…" Simeon said to himself and started to pick up all of his papers.

It didn't last long before the sound of fast footsteps once again approached. Cleaning up, Simeon was sitting with his back towards the doorway and couldn't see who was coming. Yet the lack of the sharp "click-clack" sound the professor of megalithics' shoes would made meant, that it could only be Ainsley returning to gloat at Simeon's unhappiness. He enjoyed doing that and Simeon would rather not face him, until he had no other choice. Luckily Ainsley weren't a very physical bully. Only when strongly provoked he'd resort to violence, and most of the time he would let his thick-headed buddy fight for him. The steps were now right behind Simeon, who got up and turn around. "Piss off will ya?" he said annoyed as he turned around. Instantly his blood froze. In front of him weren't the frowned, freckled face of Ainsley, but instead the face of Reagan, who did not look happy. "Reagan!" Simeon said surprised with a hint of fear in his voice, "I'm so sorry, I thought you were some-". "Where were you this morning?" Reagan interrupted without caring about Simeon's first exclamation. "Um…" Simeon said, knowing exactly what to tell her, but wasn't sure he'd liked to, "I was in class, as I told you yester-" "Didn't I tell you to skip it?" Reagan bit angrily. Simeon didn't dare move. Even though she hadn't been a smiling angel yesterday, she still seemed more tensed up today. She started to look around at the spilled potion and the ingredients and paper lying all over. "What happened?" she commanded to know. "Er… just an accident," Simeon replied and slowly continued to collect whatever could be saved, "I'm really sorry if you were waiting for me." Reagan didn't react, but just scowled at him. "Um, if you like we can meet tomorrow morning and catch up what we've lost today," Simeon continued hesitantly as he stuffed his bag with curled papers, "I guess it's not that bad either to have a day in between our sessions, y'know, to regenerate and-". "I need your help," Reagan suddenly said, still with a serious expression. Simeon stopped. "My help?" he said both feeling a bit curious and a bit an "xious, "what can I help you with that you can't-". "I need you to make a potion," Reagan interrupted again, being tired of hearing his voice, "you're better at that nonsense than I am." Not sure if he should feel insulted or complimented, Simeon slowly started to nod his head. Helping Reagan out could maybe help to make her like him more, or, maybe "like" wasn't right word, but then hate him less. "Okay," he said and tried to smile at her, "what do you need?" Reagan didn't answer but just looked around them, to see if there was anyone nearby who could be eavesdropping.

Reagan handed him a long unnaturally looking green leaf, "it's gross, but chew on this, it will make the pain more bearable" she explained plainly.

"I need you to make a numbness potion, I like it extra strong" she grinned, waiting for his answer, she knew most potionmakers thought badly of this potion, as it could project a danger for others and the drinker itself, sometimes, the drinker could feel like it was dreaming, and could therefore bring themselves in danger by jumping off a cliff, or going swimming in a strong tide, or cutting themselves as well as hurt others without mercy as most emotions could be expelled, dangerous people would become more dangerous, sometimes turning into the mere essence of a beast.

The potion was largely banned in most countries, which was also why Reagan was so on edge, making sure nobody is listening.

"Devil's claw, of course!" Simeon said taking the plant, and only just then heard what Reagan asked of him. He frowned his face. "You like it extra strong?" he repeated after her. He knew a few numbness potions himself, but had never used them much, besides "Anxia" which would help him sleep once in awhile, if he was too stressed or the castle was noisy - but even that one he wouldn't brew too strong. "What is this for?" he asked suspiciously.  
"Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies" Reagan simply said. Simeon found her question odd and squinted his eyes a bit, trying to figure her out. Either she was taking a piss on him and this was some kind of trick, or else she really needed this potion, either for herself or someone else. It was especially the latter that worried Simeon - he did not want to take part in some evil plan of anesthetizing her next victim. "No," Simeon said rather self confident, "I won't brew you something like that without knowing what you're going to use it for."

This was one of the first times Simeon had dared to speak up against her, it hit her hard, and she also knew she needed to take get the situation under control again.

"Then I will just make you" she said confidently, "this will make me be able to order you" she said, before screaming "controlio" at him. Having seen this come (for once), Simeon had also drawn his wand the very second he saw Reagan go for hers.

"Repugno!" he yelled just in time to repel her attack. With a faint glimpse of light, Reagan's spell rebounded and vanished into the air around Simeon. He had a shocked expression on his face now. Whether it was because of the attack or the fact that his spell had worked, he didn't know, but somewhere deep down inside he felt a warmth spreading. He felt angry. The last couple of days had not been in his favor and his patience was running low. He would not have his potion skills misused, just to help some bully, he refused. Taking a step back, Simeon prepared for his next spell while he was on the roll.

"Dimovere!" he said loudly, to try and push her as far away as possible. Not fast enough to block his spell, Reagan was violently pushed back off her feet and landed on her back with a big thud. Still with her wand in her hand she retaliated quickly, jumped upright, her face furious, hair wild, she glared into Simeon's eyes. "Torturo!" the spell had a clear meaning, it's meant to torture the person on the receiving end. Simeon had no chance to repel this one and was immediately brought to his knees. The pain was devastating. He felt how his entire body was twisting and turning against his will, in a desperate attempt to escape the pain. He wanted to scream, but couldn't. In front of him, not quite aware of the amount of pain she was inducing on him, Reagan struggled to maintain the curse. This curse was way above her level and with a big snap, she finally lost the connection between her and her victim. Only a small fracture of the spell rebounded and struck Reagan's hand. With the feeling of her hand getting electro shocked, her wand flew right out of her hand. Supporting the suddenly heavy weight of his body, Simeon was once again down on all four and struggled for a moment to stay up. The torture spell had taken a good toll on him. Any minute in the curse's grasp, he had felt like passing out. Too weak to cast a proper spell as he saw Reagan rush to her lost wand, Simeon struggled through his tensed up muscles and desperately reached for his bag, which stood close by.

In it he quickly found a small glass jar filled with puffball fungi he had collected earlier from the forest. He smashed the glass onto the stone floor. As a bomb the fungi inside the glass exploded once crushed, and the whole room was filled with brownish grey smoke. This came as a complete surprise for Reagan, who had just retrieved her wand. She coughed and spluttered, struggling to breathe, while at the same time in great rage at Simeon's sudden disappearance. She couldn't see a thing, and only hoped he couldn't either. For a brief moment their whole world was swallowed in this brownish fungi smoke, but then slowly it began to subside. Like a furious tiger who had just been cheated for a meal, Reagan looked after Simeon, who was still hiding somewhere under the smoke. She wanted to yell out how big of a coward he was, but didn't want to give up her position and make herself vulnerable for counter attacks. Yet her silence was in vain.

"Sagitta Zeus," she heard Simeon say breathlessly somewhere in front of her. The next moment a big flash of lightning appeared in front of her, shaped like a big arrow. It hit her right in the chest and she was slammed into the the stone built wall behind her quite hard. Her head hit the stone and she was briefly knocked out, her eyes closed, a small stream of blood trailing down her head.

"What in the name of great Merlin, happened here!?" a sharp voice echoed in Reagan's sore head. Slowly waking up, she found herself sitting up against the wall with her wand lying in her lap. Blinking her eyes she looked up, only to face a small chubby professor with heavy glasses, whose face was as red as well boiled lobster. Reagan didn't answer but quickly remembered why she was there, and looked through the room for Simeon. He was gone. Yet the traces of him and their fight were undeniable. Scattered fragments of paper and potion ingredients were everywhere. The once nicely put candles on the long tables had been knocked over, as well as many of the benches. All over the room, including the many old bookcases along the one wall, was a thick layer of brown dust, which with an occasionally move of a small wind through the old castle, whirled up and danced about. The chubby teacher started to yell at Reagan for the worst mess she had ever seen, but Reagan didn't pay attention. In the dust on the floor a very clear trace, went from where she had last seen Simeon and out of the room. On the way, she noticed that he had approached her, as his footsteps went all the way up to where she sat. It seemed like he had walked around her once or twice. Filled with rage she quickly checked everything she had on her, was in it's rightful place. "Thief," she spat angrily checking her pockets, "coward." "I beg your pardon!?" the chubby professor shrieked resentfully, and now couldn't believe neither her eyes or ears. "Not you," Reagan growled annoyed as she got up, "professor." Clinging to the wall, she felt dizzy and went to touch a sore spot on the back of her head. She had dried blood in her hair, then she remembered she had attacked him with a torture curse, she shuddered, she had cast it on a lot of people, but never on someone she felt she knew as well as Simeon.

She was a little mad at herself, why did she have to lose herself again, she thought angrily.

He had every right to blast her against the wall, but still, he had the stone, and he didn't want to make that potion for her, there was still enough hatred left in her to appreciate this, now he had also attacked her and made her appear vulnerable and weak. Turning around on her heels, Reagan quickly grabbed her bag and walked straight past the professor, who was still yelling at her. Not caring the least about either the professor's opinion or the threat of detention, Reagan left her behind with all the mess and couldn't care less. She had only one thing in mind; Simeon.


End file.
